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Today Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew announced a new Treasury-led effort to help jump-start the private label securities (PLS) mortgage market. To begin this initiative, Treasury is requesting input from the public on what could be done to encourage a well-functioning PLS market. In the next installment of "Five Questions," we asked Michael Stegman, Counselor to the Secretary for Housing Finance Policy, to explain how the PLS market has historically functioned, and how a reinvigorated market could help expand access to credit and reduce the government's footprint in the housing market. 1. What role did the PLS mortgage market play in housing finance before the housing bubble? Securitization has played a valuable role in the housing finance market, expanding access to credit for many qualified Americans by allowing the risks associated with extending mortgage credit to be allocated efficiently among investors with different appetites for taking credit and interest rate risk. Prior to the housing bubble, the private label securities - or PLS - mortgage market provided financing through lenders for a variety of borrowers that for one reason or another did not meet the underwriting criteria of government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or qualify for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insurance. Pre-2002, approximately 50 percent of first lien PLS issuance was collateralized by loans too large to qualify for a government guarantee, commonly referred to as the jumbo market. Another 10 percent was collateralized by loans to borrowers with strong credit histories who were unable to provide the necessary income documentation required to qualify for a loan that could be purchased or guaranteed by a GSE or could be insured by FHA, generally because they were either self-employed, worked on commissions, or had irregular incomes. The remainder was composed of weaker credit-quality, subprime borrowers. These proportions changed significantly...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Thursday said it would tap Treasury funds to bolster the construction of affordable rental housing and extend the life of a program aimed at helping struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure.

Stuart Miller sounds like a home builder who doesn't expect first-time and entry-level buyers to surge back into the housing market any time soon. In fact, he is considering expanding into building homes for rent if first timers remain largely unable to buy. Mr. Miller, chief executive of Lennar Corp., one of the largest U.S. home builders, told investors in a quarterly conference call on Thursday that he doesn't anticipate mortgage-qualification standards easing quickly enough to bring first timers off the sidelines anytime soon. "We think it's going to be a slow, at-the-margin adjustment that's going to take place over time," Mr. Miller said on Lennar's call to discuss its results for its fiscal second quarter ended May 31. "On the negative side, it means it's going to be really difficult to really liberate the first-time buyer and get them back into the market."

The Treasury Department will launch an initiative to revive the market for mortgage securities without government backing, a Treasury official said. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew will direct senior staff to bring together institutional investors and issuers of mortgage bonds to develop guidelines to reassure both sides that they won't be saddled with unfair losses, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an initiative that hasn't been announced.

&#160; Federal rental assistance serves some of the most vulnerable individuals and families, including 1.3 million elderly. But until now, our knowledge of the health challenges these older residents experience-and the accompanying costs-has been limited by reliance on self-reported data and proxies, rather than actual medical treatment data. What issues do these seniors face? How [...]

Lennar Revenue Beats Analyst Estimates as Company Raises Prices Bloomberg Lennar Corp. (LEN), the biggest U.S. homebuilder by stock-market value, reported fiscal second-quarter revenue that beat analysts&#39; estimates as the company raised its prices and delivered more properties. Revenue climbed to $1.82 billion in the three&nbsp;... and more&nbsp;&raquo;

The performance of first-lien mortgages serviced by large national and federal savings banks improved in the first quarter of 2014, according to a report released today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

Much of the weakness remaining in the U.S. labor market is due to structural issues, such as a skills mismatch between available workers and available jobs, that cannot be easily addressed by monetary policymakers at the Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer spending rose less than expected in May, likely held back by weak healthcare spending, which could prompt economists to temper their second-quarter growth estimates.

European Bond Yields at Record Low Creates Dilemma for Investors Bloomberg After a six-month rally sent yields on euro-area government bonds to an all-time low, fixed-income investors are pondering whether those gains can extend into the second half of the year. Most European bonds were little changed today, set for the longest run&nbsp;... and more&nbsp;&raquo;

Fed Neutralized in Mortgage Bonds on Supply Slump Bloomberg The market has been able to withstand less demand from the Fed -- its biggest investor -- because issuance is slumping as home sales fail to keep up with 2013&#39;s pace and property-buyers make purchases with just cash. Close. The market has been able to&nbsp;...

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